WEBVTT PEGGY BREIT SHOWS US THAT HE'SENJOYING GETTING USED TO IT.>> IT FEELS LIKE WINNING THELOTTERY.ONLY THEY COULD DREAM ABOUT ABEHIND PRISON WALLS.THE CULMINATION OF EIGHT YEARSOF INVESTIGATION.CONTRASTED BY ONLY A FEW HOURSOF INVESTIGATING A DOUBLE MURDERIN 1994.AND EVIDENCE OF TAINTED ANDCOERCED TESTIMONY.WHERE LAMONT LIKES TO GO NOW ISTHE LEGENDS, WALKING ANDBREATHING, THINKING ABOUT HISFUTURE AND HOW HE CAN NOWINSPIRE OTHERS.>> A WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUTHOPE.WHAT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUTDETERMINATION.I WANT EVERYBODY TO KNOW THATTHEY GOT WHAT THEY NEED TOSURVIVE.>> THEY'VE BEEN SPEAKING TOSTUDENTS AND OTHERS EVERY CHANCEHE GETS.THIS TIME, HE GOES TO VISITFRIENDS HE SERVED TIME WITH.THE NEXT GOAL IS TO GET THEDRIVERS LICENSE.MEANWHILE, HE GOOBERS.LAMONT IS EXPECTING A JOYOUSTHANKSGIVING CELEBRATING FAITH,FAMILY, AND FREEDOM.>> I AM GRATEFUL, I AM HUMBLED

He was in prison for 23-and-a-half years for a double murder that he didn’t commit.

Advertisement

Now – he’s had one month of freedom. And Lamonte McIntyre says it all still seems surreal. But, he’s enjoying getting used to it.

“It feels like winning the lottery, that’s what it feels like.”

Lamonte’s riches come from freedom…the same freedom he could only dream about behind prison walls – trapped by a system that only claimed its mistake a month ago this week.

Lamonte’s release was the culmination of 8 years of investigation – contrasted by only a few hours of investigating a double murder in 1994. And, evidence of a tainted and coerced testimony.

“The places that all this stuff happened, I don’t go down that way,” said Lamonte.

Where he likes to go now is The Legends. Walking, breathing, thinking about his future, and how he can now inspire others.

“I want people to know about hope...about resilience...about determination. I want people to know that everything that's inside of me is inside of everybody, so I want everybody to know they got what they need to survive.”

Lamonte has been speaking to students, and many others, every chance he gets.

He intends to go back to prison, too – this time, to visit friends he served time with.

He’s going to barber school next month, and college in January to study business.

“You know, I’m happy, I’m grateful, I’m humbled, and I look forward to the next month.”

The man who ordered Lamonte to be freed is Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree.

His office is now ramping up a conviction integrity unit.

Dupree is determined to find out if others in his county were also wrongfully convicted.

“It's about locking the right people up that commit crime, but it is also about making sure that we don't lock up the wrong people,” said Dupree.

His new integrity unit will start next year, and it will be compromised of a full time assistant district attorney and investigator. It will also have input from a defense attorney and other community volunteers.

Wrong-doing has been alleged in Lamonte’s conviction. But Dupree says, in some cases, there’s new evidence, witnesses, or technology advances to consider.

“And so we want to make sure that we don't miss anything so that our convictions, whether you look at it in 20 years, or you look at it now, will always be just and hold integrity”